Doctors save man's severed hand by attaching it to his ankle

By Charlene

02 January 2014

Doctors grafted a man's hand to his ankle in an attempt to save his leg. Xiao Wei's right hand was severed after it got caught in a machine during a work-related accident. However Chinese medics conjured up a plan to attached it to his ankle for a month to keep the hand alive.

"I was just shocked and frozen at the spot, until co-workers unplugged the machine and retrieved my hand and took me to hospital."

Xiao was quickly rushed to the local hospital in Changde where originally doctors said they wouldn't be able to save his hand. After sending him to a larger hospital in Changsha nearly a two-hour drive away, doctors revealed their plan.

Nearly a month after, in the second part of the operation, the hand was successfully re-attached.